Memory of 2012 season drives South Alabama DL Romelle Jones

MOBILE, Alabama - There are many on South Alabama's football roster who can't wait to put the 2012 season behind them. The Jaguars' only losing season to date, those players - and fans too - want to use spring practice or anything else to take their minds off the 2-11 record and disappointment that accompanied that record.

Not Romelle Jones. He doesn't want to forget the season or the feelings going through such a season created. He wants the memory of it all fresh in his mind as he prepares for 2013 and his senior season.

"Last year, I take that as a huge motivator,'' the 6-foot-2, 275-pounder from New Orleans said. "I know a lot of guys will try to forget it, but I try to remember it as much as possible. I look back at it and every time I look at 2-11 I get this feeling in my stomach that makes me want to go work even harder because this is my last year and I refuse to go out in that type of manner.''

The defensive lineman, one of the Jaguars' leaders this spring who has taken on that role in the past and embraces it heading into the upcoming season, said he doesn't see South Alabama repeating that kind of disappointment. And it won't if he has anything to do with it.

"My main goal this season is to take this team and make history the way we planned on making history the first year I came in and when they were recruiting me,'' he said. "When coach (Kurt) Crain was recruiting me and coming to my house, that's all we ever talked about was making history. This is the group of guys they brought in to make history, this is the fifth-year seniors. I feel like it's our obligation to set the bar for the younger and new guys coming in.

"I feel great about it the way guys are coming in and working and getting in the weight room and doing extra (work) like I've never seen. (In the past) some guys didn't step into the weight room unless they were made to. There's just so much difference and so much motivation this year. I think the 2012 season, it broke a lot of guys down. But that type of pressure can either bust a pipe or make a diamond and I think it's making a diamond right now.''

Jones is a mainstay on the defensive line, a player whose talent and contributions to the defense are not measured by the stat sheet - he had 18 total tackles last season, 11 solo stops, two tackles for a loss and a quarterback hurry - but instead by his leadership and by the plays he creates for others by the way he does his job.

Providing leadership carries a lot of weight with Jones, who said the guys on the defensive line will be the leaders of the Jags' defense this season; it's their time and they are ready to take on that chore.

"We love the responsibility honestly,'' Jones said. "It's what we've been waiting on for a good bit of time now. It's our fifth year and honestly it's just time for us to assume that responsibility and stop relying on the coaches and other guys. It's time for us to take this team to the next level.

"As far as the defensive line, we're a really solid group of guys. Even since we were freshmen we always had a group of guys that never mind working, so even when we have a guy going down there's always a guy with great work ethic right behind him who can step in. He may not do as great of a job, but he can always get the job done.

South Alabama defensive lineman Romelle Jones (90) sacks Florida Atlantic quarterback Graham Wilbert (14) but is called for a face mask penalty during the first half of a Sun Belt Conference football game Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/mkittrell@al.com)

"I think with the amount of seniors on this team this year and the amount of leadership - and it's not just coming from one guy, it's leaders correcting leaders, leaders holding other leaders accountable - so when you see that as a young guy you know you better be on all 10 toes. Because if you're not, you know if a leader can be called out you can be called out.''

No one is calling out Jones except to recognize him for his efforts in pushing the Jags' in general and the defensive line in particular, forward.

"Romelle is a tremendous football player and a leader of our defense and we expect a lot of big things from him this year,'' South Alabama defensive line coach Brian Turner said of Jones. "He's super quick and plays with great fundamentals and he's very strong. He's probably the most complete defensive lineman we've got up front and he does a tremendous job for us.

"His experience is a huge factor for us. He's played four straight years and now is playing his fifth and he's started almost every game for us along with Montavious Williams and Alex Page; they all bring the experience for us. I was very nervous going into spring, wonder if those guys would have senioritis, but those guys have all responded well and taken ownership of the defense and they're all trying to be leaders and work hard this spring.''

In his four previous season with the Jags - Jones was part of the program when it was unclassified by the NCAA, allowing players to participate in games during their redshirt season - Jones has gone from prospect to productive veteran. He said it is amazing how much his game has changed from the first practice he had as a Jaguar to this spring.

"It would have to be my mental game,'' he said when asked what aspect of his play has improved the most in that time. "When I first got here I was just running around, honestly. I was just running around, trying to find the ball and just playing. Now, I think about situations, down and distance, what this guy does. I read his keys, I look at their hands and their stances. There's just so much more about the game that I've learned since I've been playing here for four years. It's the small things that you never notice as a kid and playing in high school that pretty much makes all the difference in the world.''

For the first time in his USA career, Bill Clark won't be the Jags' defensive coordinator. Clark is now head coach at Jacksonville State and Kevin Sherrer has been hired to lead the South Alabama defense. Jones said he likes the things Sherrer has brought to the table.

"I know it's going to be a cohesive group just because of the guys,'' Jones said. "The leadership on this team is buying in, so the guys under us don't have a choice but to buy in. The new coaches, I love them. They're great guys. I love to get a new experience. Coach Clark was a great coach who taught me so much mentally about the game. And these coaches here now are teaching us different things. It's like each coach you deal with teaches you something different and you have to be able to combine them and take them and run with them. ''

Jones said he intends to run with that knowledge, but he won't run away from the past season. He prefers to use that as fuel to drive him and his South Alabama team to a memorable season in 2013.